HeartBroken
by joshrox116
Summary: An old friend of one of the Ducks returns, but who knows her? And why has she come to Eden Hall?
1. Chapter 1

Rating: PG-13 for coarse language  
  
Disclaimers: I own (why do I 'own' them? It's not as though anyone would want to buy them) Katie and her family. The rest... I do not :(  
  
Author's Notes: This is my first Mighty Ducks fanfic, and only my second fanfic ever. Please, read & review with anything - constructive criticism etc. - and... yeah! You know the deal better than I do.  
  
Chapter 1:  
  
Charlie Conway sighed to himself as he once again entered Eden Hall for what he felt was certain to be just another boring day.  
  
"Hey Charlie."  
  
"Banksie." Charlie smiled at him.  
  
"Did you see the game on the weekend?"  
  
"Which one?" Charlie laughed as they reached their meeting place before school.  
  
"Hey guys," Charlie said. He and Adam were the last ones to join the group. "What's happening?"  
  
Just as everyone started answering him at once, Charlie heard his name being called.  
  
"Oh my God! Charles? Charles Conway, no way in hell!!"  
  
Charlie spun around. "Katie?" He asked.  
  
The girl gave up trying to drag her father away with her, and ran to Charlie.  
  
"Hey!! Oh my God it's so good to see you!!" she cried, grabbing him in a hug.  
  
"What are you doing here?" he questioned, the smile on her face matched by his own.  
  
"Well I guess you could say I'm Eden Hall's newest student," she replied. But before she could get any further,  
  
"Katie," her father's clean, crisp voice cut through the air.  
  
Immediately the smile dropped from Katie's face. "Coming Father," she rolled her eyes. "I guess I'll see you later then Charles?"  
  
Charlie sighed. "I hate being called Charles. Come on, you know that."  
  
She smiled playfully at him. "Yeah, but then where's the fun?"  
  
"Katie! Get away from that boy and come here now!" Her father's voice was insistent.  
  
"Bye," she mumbled as she trudged back to her father. Charlie could hear Katie's father telling her to:  
  
"Pick up your feet. And don't slouch. Tony never slouches."  
  
Russ came up behind Charlie. "Oh my GOD, it's CHARLES!!!" he squealed.  
  
Charlie mock glared at him. "Shut up. And don't call me Charles, or I'll have to kill you."  
  
"Pretty girl there did," Russ pouted.  
  
"Yeah. She's the ONLY one who does. And it's gonna stay that way." The bell rang, signalling the start of the day. "And her name's Katie, by the way."  
  
And with that, Charlie strolled off to class, but not without hearing the rest of the Ducks behind him asking each other, "Who the hell is that girl?" 


	2. Chapter 2

Rating: PG-13 for coarse language  
  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1  
  
Author's Notes: Wow I'm so excited! I got three reviews already! Haha I'm not used to getting so many so soon. Anyway thank you to C-chan, WeBuiltThisCityOnRockAndRoll and Natasha - you guys are awesome! Also, I forget to mention this before, this is set in 1999? Anyway when the Ducks were about 17 years old (going from the third movie) and in their second- last year. They are the Varsity hockey team.  
  
Chapter 2: Katie watched as her father signed the forms. The headmaster smiled at her.  
  
"The next class starts in 5 minutes, I can take you there now if you'd like."  
  
Katie shrugged. "Sure."  
  
The headmaster smiled again. "Here is your timetable," he said, handing her a piece of paper. "Now if you'd like to follow me," he turned to Katie's father, "Mr Gold, if you would like to wait here, we'll just be a minute."  
  
Katie's father nodded curtly, and Katie followed the headmaster out of his office and into the corridor.  
  
They walked in silence until the headmaster stopped outside a classroom.  
  
"This is it," he gestured to the doot. "Your Maths lessons will be held in this room, with Mrs Bryant."  
  
Katie smiled. "Thanks."  
  
Once again, he smiled at her. 'What's his deal?' Katie thought. He was freaking her out with all the smiling.  
  
Th bell rang. "Ah yes. If you'd like to go in, the rest of the class should join you soon." He smiled one last time, turned on his heel and strolled back the way they had come.  
  
Katie entered the classroom and sat somewhere near the middle. It only took a few minutes for other students to start straggling in.  
  
She looked up suddenly as someone dropped into the seat next to her. She turned to face them, only to find herself staring into the grinning face of Charlie. She lightly punched him in the shoulder.  
  
"What was that for?" he gasped.  
  
"You scared me!" she laughed. The expression on Charlie's face was priceless... a mix of shock, confusion, and a lot of amusement. But the look quickly turned to one of boredom when the teacher entered the room.  
  
"That's Mrs Bryant. She's evil," Charlie whispered to Katie. And just to prove his statement, Mrs Bryant turned on him.  
  
"Mr Conway, care to share?"  
  
Katie inwardly groaned. Mrs Bryant's voice was so similar to her father's, it was going to kill her.  
  
"Depends on what I'm sharing," Charlie smirked.  
  
"Whatever it was that you were telling Miss..." Mrs Bryant looked at her. "Who are you?"  
  
"Katie Gold, first day ma'am," she responded.  
  
Mrs Bryant opened her mouth as the door opened and a cute guy walked in.  
  
"Hey," he nodded at the teacher.  
  
"Late again, Mr Portman. What's your excuse this time?"  
  
Portman grinned as he sat on the other side of Charlie. "Teacher held me back. Problem with that?"  
  
Mrs Bryant just rolled her eyes and turned her back to the class. Charlie and Portman slammed fists.  
  
"Good one," Charlie whispered.  
  
"Copy these down and finish them by next lesson. I will be checking, so make sure they are done," Mrs Bryant snapped, glaring around the class.  
  
10 minutes before the bell was due to go, Charlie glanced at Katie's work, adn was surprised to say the least. He could see about 5 pages of writing... some sort of story, from what he could tell.  
  
"Hey, what are you doing?" He asked her.  
  
"Writing," sshe replied.  
  
"What about the questions?" Charlie was confused.  
  
"What about them? I finished twenty minutes ago Charles." She grinned at him.  
  
Shaking his head in amazement, Charlie turned his attention back to his work, eternally grateful when the lesson ended.  
  
"Man, that was hell!" Portman exclaimed as soon as they were out in the corridor. "Talk about boring!"  
  
Katie agreed. "Tell me about it!"  
  
Charlie scoffed. "What are you talking about? You finished way early!"  
  
She shrugged, "So? It was a cinch."  
  
Charlie just shook his head at her. "Oh yeah, Portman this is Katie Gold, Katie this is Dean Portman." He introduced them. "Katie's an old friend of mine, she lived next door to me for like 6 months a few years ago. We kept in touch."  
  
"Nice to meet you," Katie smiled at Portman.  
  
"You too babe," Portman replied, looking her over, so obviously flirting with her.  
  
"You're eating with us, ok?" Charlie cut in.  
  
"Yeah sure, Charles." She grinned at him.  
  
"Don't even consider it." Charlie warned Portman. 


	3. Chapter 3

Rating: PG-13 for coarse language (in this chapter)  
  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1  
  
Author's Notes: It's a short chapter, but you should get a bit of insight into Katie's life before Eden Hall.  
  
Chapter 3  
  
"Is that all you're eating??" Charlie stared at Katie's tray.  
  
"Yeah," she shrugged.  
  
"Hey, Fulton!" Portman called across the cafeteria.  
  
As the rest of the Ducks straggled in, Charlie introduced each of them to Katie. She already knew who everyone was, Charlie had told her about them in his letters and emails.  
  
"Hi," she smiled at everyone.  
  
Katie was almost finished eating when she spotted a girl coming towards the table.  
  
"Charlie, look out," Guy whispered across the table.  
  
"Oh crap," Charlie groaned.  
  
It was this statement that made Katie eye the girl warily as she approached the table.  
  
"Hey Charlie!" She chirped. "I was thinking that maybe we could do something tonight... if you know what I mean. " She giggled.  
  
"Linda, how many times do I have to explain it to you," Charlie exasperated. "We are finished. Over. The end. No more. That's it. OK? I don't like you anymore, and I don't wanna go out with you again."  
  
Linda stood there, her eyes flashing with anger. "Charlie, what is your problem? What's wrong with me? We were together, we were having so much fun! Don't you remember that?"  
  
Katie could see Charlie getting seriously pissed off.  
  
"Linda, we broke up like four months ago. Four months! Why can't you accept that?"  
  
Linda moved to slap Charlie across the face, but standing quickly, Katie grabbed both her wrists.  
  
Linda immediately turned on her. "What is your problem?"  
  
"What the fuck is YOUR problem?" Katie's voice was hard and cold. "Four months, and you're still whinging about it?" Katie shook her head in disgust. "God, you're even more pathetic than he said. Now my brother taught me how to break a person's arm with one hand, so unless you want me to do it to you, I advise you to fuck off back to whatever hole you crawled out of, and don't come anywhere near him again. Do we understand each other?" Katie easily stared Linda down and Linda scurried off.  
  
Katie sat down.  
  
"Whoa," was all anyone could say.  
  
"Hey was that true?" Fulton asked her.  
  
"Which part?"  
  
"That your brother taught you to break a person's arm with one hand."  
  
Katie shrugged. "Yeah. Taught me by doing it to me, but yeah. It's not that hard. Especially when you're as pathetic as she is."  
  
"Your brother broke your arm?" Charlie asked her.  
  
"Only 'cause 'father' told him to. It was punishment."  
  
"What for?" He asked her gently, but inside he was fuming. Her father got her brother to break her arm? What a fucking asshole!  
  
Katie pushed her tray away. "Can we not talk about this please? I mean, surely you have better things to talk about than my father." She smiled weakly at them. "Hey, when do I get to see you play?" 


	4. Chapter 4

Rating: PG-13 for coarse language  
  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Charlie waved Katie over as she looked around for him. Katie had well and truly settled into Eden Hall, which Charlie found quite amazing since she'd only been there for two weeks.  
  
He was still worried about her because of her admission after she scared Linda off. He'd tried talking to her about it again that night, but she'd ignored him and started talking to Julie. After that he'd decided to try and talk to her in private. He made a mental not to go and see her on Saturday - she was staying in the dorms, even though her parents only lived ten minutes away.  
  
"Hello,Charles? I s anybody home?" Katie waved her hand in front of his face. He'd been zoning out a lot the last few days.  
  
"Yeah, what?" He snapped back to reality.  
  
"Just making sure you were still here," she replied, shoving some fries into her mouth. The two of them had quickly settled into a comfortable routine - Katie had virtually become one of the Ducks, except for the fact that she wasn't on the team, she couldn't ice skate, she'd never tried. So when the Ducks had practise, Katie would go off most likely to her room and write.  
  
"20 minutes guys," Luis warned them.  
  
"Hey, do you wanna come and watch us practise? Coach won't mind," Charlie suggested to Katie.  
  
She considered this for a minute before nodding. "But I have to go back to my room and get some stuff first."  
  
"I'll go with you now," Charlie said, standing up. "See you guys out there."  
  
"See ya."  
  
"So what are we getting?" Charlie asked her as they walked down the dorm corridor.  
  
She stopped and unlocked her door. "After you," she gestured inside the room.  
  
Whoa, Charlie thought. She had a private room, and she was completely set up - computer, TV, VCR, everything.  
  
Charlie's eyes, if possible, widened even more in shock. "A microwave? You have a Microwave? Whay the hell do you have a microwave?"  
  
"For popcorn," she replied, shuffling through the junk on her desk. "And this," she said, grabbing a thick, once blank book, "is what we're getting. Could you hold this for me? I'll just be a minute," she disappeared into the bathroom.  
  
Hesitantly, Charlie opened the book to the first page. "A Life Of Regrets, by Katie Gold," he murmured to himself. He flicked through the pages, stopping when he noticed his name.  
  
"Well I just met Charles Conway. He lives next door, and he's pretty nice. He plays ice hockey, he won the championship last year he told me. He already offered to teach me to ice skate, but I had to refuse. I can only imagine what my 'father' would say - no, DO if he found out that I went out with a boy--"  
  
"You ready?" Katie asked, coming out of the bathroom.  
  
"Uh, yeah," Charlie replied, closing the book and hoping she didn't notice.  
  
As she sat in the stands, Katie wondered if she'd done the right thing by asking Charlie to hold her book. Did she really want him to know about how bad her life had been? Had he even wanted to read it? Truth be told she was terrified of what may happen in Charlie read her life story. Not because of Charlie, but of what would happen if her father found out! No, she decided, she had to let Charlie read it. She owed him that much.  
  
She was so consumed by her thoughts that when Charlie tapped her on the shoulder she almost shed her skin.  
  
"You OK?" He asked.  
  
"Yeah, yeah I;m fine. Um, Charles?" she asked hesitantly.  
  
"What's up?" he asked, trying to keep his voice light because he'd picked up on her hesitation.  
  
She exhaled, trying to calm herself. "Did you... did you happen to read any of this?" She held up her book.  
  
Charlie gulped nervously, but he couldn't lie to her. "Yeah. I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. I only read a couple of lines, I-" he rambled.  
  
"Slow down. Would you, uh, like to read the whole thing?" She looked down, suddenly extremely interested in her blue sneakers.  
  
Charlie smiled "I'd love to."  
  
She looked at him. "OK. I'll have the first chapter typed for you for tomorrow."  
  
"Sure," Charlie nodded.  
  
"Do you smell something?" She asked, suddenly alarmed.  
  
"No, what is it?"  
  
She leant towards him and started laughing. "Never mind, it's just you. You stink!"  
  
"Oh you're in for it now!" Charlie grabbed for her, but she darted out of his reach, and he chased her all the way towards the dorms. But he almost crashed into her when she stopped suddenly, staring at the man who was knocking on her door.  
  
The man turned suddenly, sensing she was there. "Katie," he smiled.  
  
"Hey Tony," she replied. "Tony, this is my friend Charlie. Charlie, this is my brother Tony."  
  
Charlie's face hardened but he managed to keep his temper in check. "Nice to meet you," he muttered.  
  
"Yeah, you too." Tony turned to Katie. "Dad wanted me to come and see how you were, and to give you this." He handed her a roll of notes. "Actually it's from me and Lisa, should last you a while."  
  
"Thanks," she smiled.  
  
"How are you? How's your arm?" He asked concernedly.  
  
"We're both fine. Thanks for dropping by." She gave him a hug. "Oh, can you not tell father about Charlie? It's just I know he'll get angry at me again, and you know what he did last time."  
  
Tony nodded. "My lips are sealed. Don't worry. And I'm relly sorry about your arm, I never knew it would happen."  
  
"All has been forgiven, don't fret. And you'd better get back, although your the favorite, he'll believe whatever you tell him."  
  
"OK, I'll see you later. Bye Charlie."  
  
"Yeah bye," Charlie replied as Tony walked off. "So that's your brother?"  
  
"Mhm. He's pretty cool... I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow?"  
  
"Yeah. See ya."  
  
"Bye Charles." 


	5. Chapter 5

Rating: PG-13 for coarse language and adult themes (Forget to mention that in earlier chapters)  
  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1  
  
Author's Notes: WeBuiltThisCityOnRockAndRoll - Thanks! I loved that part too, which is actually surprising because I tend to hate my work after I post it, it's so predictable for me because I wrote it. Does that make any sense? Probably not!  
  
C-chan - Thank you!  
  
Orli_anon - don't you hide from me! LOL that made no sense... oh yeah, you told me to thank your fans... so thank you to the fans that reside in your head :P (by the way, I actually know her, she my friend) Sorry chookie!  
  
On with the story!  
  
Chapter 5:  
  
Charlie flopped back on his bed. Coach had given him hell at training, but Charlie grudgingly admitted that he had probably deserved it. His name was on other things, namely the thickish envelope in his bag. Katie had given it to him at the end of lunch, after making him promise that he wouldn't tell anyone what was in it, and that he wouldn't open it until he got home, thus minimising the risk of anyone else finding out about it.  
  
Awake again, Charlie pulled the envelope out of his bag. Pulling out the contents, he leant back against the wall and began to reda, finding himself immersed in her introduction.  
  
"A Life Of Regrets, by Katie Gold  
  
A life of regrets. Sure, a lot of people live a life full of regrets. I can truly sympathise with these people. But the worst thing is that right now I am only 17 years old. A life of regrets at 17 years old. Now if that isn't heartbreaking then I don't know what is. I admit, I brought most of it on myself, but at the time it seemed my only option.  
  
Anyway I don't want to delve into that just yet. I'm going to introduce you to my family, and hopefully this will help you understand the rest of the story I have to tell.  
  
I'll start by introducing you to my mother. I suppose she's not that bad, compared to my father, and she'd be perfect if you wanted positively nothing to do with her. She calls me 'dear', because she can't remember my name... all she's interested in is money. I don't mean that in a bad way, because my mother is a perfectly nice, normal woman who just happens to be married to a rich man.  
  
Ah yes, we come to my biological father. I never knew it was possible to hate someone so much, yet you still felt the desire to impress them beyond their beliefs. I finally learnt two and a half years ago that it was a waste of time trying to impress him. Whatever I did, my brother was better.So I finally gave up trying to compete with my brother. But I made things worse. Now, he sends people to check up on me, he only bothers to come and see me himself if he thinks I need a reality check, or if he thinks I'm in need of some 'discipline'.  
  
Tony's my brother. He's fifteen years older than me. Growing up he was my hero, my idol. My father had nothing to do with that, I thikn it was because when our father wasn't around Tony would hang out with me just coz he wanted to. He is someone I would trust my life with, if the father was nowhere to e found (ie dead). About ten years ago he got married to Jen. She is the sister I never had. She's always there for me, and she's the one that proves me wrong when I feel like nobody cares.  
  
Tony works for the Navy. I'm not exactly ure what he does, but he gets relocated every six months. And because father is so obsessed with Tony, this means we move every six months as well. I'm not complaining, it meant that I had enough time to make new friends wherever I went. But it would've been nice if some of them had bothered to write back a second time...  
  
Kyle's my nephew. He's soo cute, he looks so much like his daddy... he really has the "who me? I'm 'innocent' " look down perfectly.  
  
Amy's my niece. She adorable. She's such a sweethear, I swear to God if anyone hurts her on purpose they will have to answer to me.  
  
Because he hates me and loves Tony, our father would often and regularlytake Tony and Jen out, leaving me behind to baby-sit. I didn't mind, it actual fact I was relieved. I don't think I would be able to handle going out with Tony and our father...  
  
Whenever I baby-sat, after my father had said or done something to make me feel like absolute shit, Amy would come up to me and give me a big hug and ask me if I was ok, almost as if she could sense something was wrong... no matter how many times she does it, I still feel the tears well up in my eyes because I'm so touched by how much she cares.  
  
So, that pretty much sums up my family. No matter how dysfunctional, I still love them, apart from my father. I don't think I will ever be able to forgive him, let alone love him, after the physical and emotional hell he has put me through."  
  
Charlie folded the papers and stuffed them back inside the envelope. He couldn't believe what he'd read. Katie certainly didn't seem as though she had been through emotional hell... whenever he saw her she was eally happy.  
  
"Charlie," his mother knocked on the door.  
  
"Yeah Mom?" Charlie called back.  
  
His door opened and his mother stuck her head inside the door. "Phone for you." She threw him the cordless.  
  
"Thanks." He grinned at her. "Hello?" he spoe into the phone.  
  
"Charlie?"  
  
"Katie? What's wrong?" He was immediately concerned, she never called him Charlie.  
  
She sniffled. "Oh Charlie... he came... I'm so scared, he's gonna come back I know it." She sobbed. "Can you come? I ust, I don't want to be alone."  
  
Charlie nodded. "Don't worry, I'm on my way."  
  
"Thank you," she replied, slightly relieved.  
  
"I'll see you real soon, OK? Bye."  
  
"Bye," she replied, hanging up. 'What did I do?' she thought, bursting into fresh tears. 'Please hurry Charlie, before he comes back...' 


	6. Chapter 6

Rating: PG-13 for coarse language and adult themes  
  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1  
  
Author's Notes: Ah, to my dear friend Orli_anon, what can I say? Wait, I'm trying to think of something funny... nope, I can't think of anything that you will get! LOL I can't believe your fans have a terrible life, well they live with you so...  
  
goldstranger - I can't help it, as much as I hate cliffhangers I just gotta write them! And you will find out who it was, just maybe not in this chapter.  
  
WeBuiltThisCityOnRockAndRoll - Yes it makes sense. And I wish Charlie could comfort me as well... I'll let you in on a little secret. Katie is based on me, so it's almost like he IS comforting me. Does that make sense?  
  
Sorry I haven't updated lately, it's just that my computer was being a real bitch, and we had to get a new one, and I had it written and I couldn't get on to type it, and then I did and someone deleted it. So I finally got my turn! Enjoy  
  
Chapter 6:  
  
"Can I have someone over for dinner tonight? It's an emergency, I need to take the car," Charlie asked his mother, dashing into the kitchen breathlessly.  
  
"Sure," she replied, although she had no idea what was going on.  
  
"Thanks. You're a lifesaver Mom," Charlie called, grabbing the car keys on his way out the door.  
  
He arrived at Eden Hall in record time. Dashing down the corridors, he pounded on Katie's door. "Katie, open up, it's Charlie. Katie, are you there?" He knocked on the door again, but more gently this time.  
  
The door creaked open, and Katie peered around. At the sight of Charlie she cried tears of relief.  
  
"Hey, hey, it's OK. You're safe now." Charlie wrapped his arms around her, comforting her. "Come on, you're coming back to my place."  
  
She nodded and Charlie walked her to the car, his arm still comfortingly around her shoulders.  
  
They drove in silence, the few other cars on the road providing the only noise. Charlie led her to his apartment, the same one she'd lived next door to.  
  
His mom called out as they walked into the front room. "Charlie, is that you?"  
  
"Yeah, it's us," he called back.  
  
His mother walked out of the kitchen, her eyes opening in recognition when she saw Katie. "Katie? Well, this is a surprise, Charlie didn't tell me you were back in town."  
  
Katie smiled. "I see he really hasn't changed."  
  
Charlie's mom smiled back. "No he hasn't."  
  
"It's good to see you again Mrs. Conway."  
  
"Oh, Katie please, call me Casey. I'm guessing that you're the friend staying for dinner?"  
  
"Oh, only if it's not any trouble--"  
  
"Don't be ridiculous. When you get hungry, Charlie, I've left it in the oven to keep warm. You look like you need to talk. I have to go to work for a couple of hours, don't get up to too much trouble if you can help it." Casey grabbed her coat and bag and was out the door.  
  
Charlie led Katie over to the couch. "Do you want to tell me about it?"  
  
Katie nodded. "On one condition."  
  
"And that is...?"  
  
She looked him in the eye. "Promise me that you won't say anything until I've finished."  
  
Charlie nodded. "I think I can do that. Why don't you tell me when it all started."  
  
Katie stood up. "It all really started about two years ago. I know, it's so stupid, but I went totally off the rails. I started slowly, staying out a bit later than my curfew, minor stuff like that, stuff that earned me a five minute lecture. Then about 18 months ago, I got much worse. I was craving love and attention, the things I never got from either of my parents." She started pacing. "I dated almost every guy in the grade, and two weeks before we left I had sex with a guy. I wasn't even sixteen, and I don't remember who the hell he was. Your first time is supposed to be special and memorable, well all I remember is the black eye my father gave me when he found out. We moved, and I rebelled even more. I was stealing money off my father, he didn't care, he thought it was my mother. I stole alcohol out of the cupboard once... my father beat me for that, so I started paying people to buy it for me, until I got a fake ID. And so every couple of weeks I would get drunk, have sex with some random guy, go home and get beaten for it. When the six months were up, we moved, and I continued what I was doing. That was until I fell pregnant, about four months ago." The tears that had been threatening to fall finally did. Katie didn't bother to wipe them away, she just kept pacing and talking. "I was one month into my term when my father found out and took me to the abortion clinic. To all the people there, he was the wonderful father, there to support his 17 year old daughter, but I knew he was only there to make sure I went through with it. He knew that there was no way I would get out of it while he was there." She stopped pacing but remained there, standing in the middle of the room. "When I was allowed to go home, he picked me up. We got home, Tony and Jen left, my mother went shopping, and... he gave me the worst beating he ever gave me. It was pointless for me to have the abortion, he could've saved himself the time because he would've killed my baby with that beating." She trembled with anger. "I hate him. I really do, I hate him! After that I vowed to myself that I would get my life back on track. And then we moved here and I saw you again, Charles it was like all my dreams had come true. I'm so sorry, I had to tell you, I had to stop lying. I just hope you're not angry with me, I don't think I could handle it if you were angry with me."  
  
Katie took several deep, calming breaths as Charlie stood and walked the few steps it took to get to her. Enveloping her in a hug, he whispered in her ear.  
  
"I could never be angry at you." Pulling away, he looked into her eyes. "Because I love you."  
  
Author's Notes: I'm sorry, I had to do that! But, does he mean it the way you think he means it? Does she feel the same way? All will be revealed next chapter, hopefully out soon. Finger's crossed! 


	7. Chapter 7

Rating: PG-13 for coarse language and adult themes  
  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1  
  
Author's Notes: Sorry, I've been really slack about posting new chapters lately! LOL ah well... let me see. School's back so I should (finger's crossed) be able to update more often. Oh and as this chapter will probably prove, I also love Dawson's Creek... such a shame it finished :( Oh and just so you know there will be slash references in later chapters, this has only just come up so I'm letting you know ahead of time. I won't go into detail but still some people don't like it.  
  
WeBuiltThisCityOnRockAndRoll - Aw thank you! I try my best.  
  
C-chan96 - I think you'll like this chapter... at least I hope you do!  
  
beautyqueen321 - your wish is my command!  
  
Orli-anon - Of course you loved it! And I am reading your story, I specially like what happens with me :D:D:D. And thank your, uh, FANS for their support.  
  
Catbus - thank you! hopefully you got my email  
  
Here we go, starts where chapter 6 ended:  
  
Chapter 7:  
  
"Really, I do. What you and I share is so amazing, so special, it goes beyond friendship. We just have this... bond, we understand each other so well. I wish I had a word to describe it-"  
  
Katie cut him off. "Soulmates."  
  
"What?"  
  
She smiled. "We're soulmates. You know, like Dawson and Joey."  
  
"Dawson and Joey? Who?" Charlie couldn't figure out what she was talking about.  
  
"My god Charles, you are SO behind the times. Dawson and Joey, Dawson's Creek? The TV show? You haven't heard of Dawson's Creek??? Where have you been??"  
  
"Hang on, isn't that the one that had the affair with the teacher?"  
  
Katie sighed with relief. "Yes, pacey had an affair with his English teacher." She looked at her watch. "It's only 6:30. What do you say we have dinner and go catch a movie or something?"  
  
Charlie nodded. "Movie sounds good to me."  
  
~*~*~  
  
They were standing outside the movie theater, trying to decide what to see, when Connie and Guy walked up behind them.  
  
"Hey you guys! Seeing a movie?" Connie asked.  
  
"Well, considering this is a movie theater, my guess would be yes," Charlie smirked. "Ow!"  
  
Katie had elbowed him in the ribs.  
  
"What are you seeing?" Guy tried to steer the topic to something more neutral.  
  
"I refuse to see a chick flick." Charlie stated.  
  
"Good," Katie replied, "I hate chick flicks." She was scanning the board as her eyes lit up. "Ooh, what about this one?" She asked Charlie, jabbing her finger at an ad.  
  
"Cruel Intentions?"  
  
"Yeah, bonus it has sex, drugs and swearing, should be excellent."  
  
Charlie shrugged. "I'm sold. How about you guys?"  
  
"Nah, we'll pass. We'll see you later," Guy replied, he and Connie still looking at what was showing.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"That was so good," Katie said, coming out of the cinema. The tear trails were still evident on her face.  
  
Charlie shrugged. "So much for you hating chick flicks."  
  
"That was so badly NOT a chick flick! Did you see any chick flicky stuff? Come on, chick flicks all have a happy ending, and they're corny and predictable. That movie was..."  
  
"Shocking?" Charlie suggested.  
  
"Brilliant." She countered.  
  
"Shockngly brilliant." Charlie grinned. "I admit, I thought it was great."  
  
Katie smiled. "I always knew you would."  
  
Something caught her eye, and she swore just loudly enough for Charlie to hear.  
  
"What?" He asked.  
  
"We have to go, NOW." She grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the exit.  
  
"What? Why?" Charlie asked, trying to keep up with her.  
  
"I just saw my father. He'd almost literally kill me if he saw me."  
  
Katie and Charlie ran quickly and quietly out to car.  
  
"That was close." Katie stated once they were safely on their way. "Are you taking me back to the dorms?"  
  
"Nope," Charlie replied, keeping his eyes on the road.  
  
"Why not?" She asked confusedly.  
  
Charlie scoffed. "As if I'm gonna let you go back there alone, and you would be alone because I would feel a hell of a lot better if I was sleeping in my own place which is why you're gonna sleep in my bed and I'm sleeping on the floor."  
  
"Charles, there's no way you're sleeping on the florr." Katie said as they pulled up.  
  
"Well I sure as hell ain't sleeping with you," Charlie replied getting out of the car, "you probably have cold feet."  
  
Katie smiled. "No you idiot, I meant I'll take the floor, you sleep in your bed. And before you even think of arguing with me, do I need to remind you of the score?" She smirked at him as he rolled his eyes in defeat.  
  
"Fine."  
  
She grinned. "Make that 22-12 to me!"  
  
"22-12? No way! It's more like 11-6, come on!"  
  
They argued all the way to Charlie's door.  
  
"Why don't we continue postpone this until later?" Chalire suggested. "Otherwise we're gonna annoy Mom and Wayne."  
  
Katie rolled her eyes. "Sure, whatever."  
  
Charlie paused with his hand on the handle, ready to open the door. "Are you all right?"  
  
"Can we just go inside please?" She asked irritably.  
  
Wordlessly, Charlie opened the door and gestured her in, closing the door after himslef.  
  
Katie followed him into the kitchen.  
  
"You hungry?" He asked.  
  
Katie shook her head.  
  
Closing the cupboard, Charlie looked at her. "Ok, what's wrong?" He asked, exasperated.  
  
Katie's eyes darted to the floor. "Nothing," she mumbled.  
  
"That's bullshit and you know it." Charlie's voice was adamant but gentle.  
  
Katie sighed. "I guess we were just a little too close for comfort with my father tonight."  
  
Charlie nodded. "Ok."  
  
"I'm really tired, do you think we could crash?"  
  
"Yeah. I'll grab you some clothes. I speak from experience when I say that jeans aren't the most comfortable things to sleep in."  
  
Katie cracked a smile. "Ok, thanks."  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Hey, Katie?"  
  
"Yeah?" Katie sat up.  
  
"What did you mean by Dawson and Joey? Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't they in love with each other or something?"  
  
Katei smiled. "Yeah. Or they did anyway. They don't love each other any more. It's just -- them being more than friends just complicates things even more for them. And besides," she added, "Joey's gonna hook up with Pacey."  
  
"How can you be so sure? They're more likely to end up killing each other."  
  
Katie laughed at the thought. "Yeah, right. I dunno, it's just obvious to me. Although, that might be because I was just in NC, in Wilmington. That's where they film." She smiled at the memories. "Once I'd decided to change my life for the better, I spent a lot of time hanging around the town. After a few weeks I really bonded with Michelle-"  
  
"Who's she?"  
  
Katie rolled her eyes. "She plays Jen. Anyway she happened to accidentally slip a few little... script secrets."  
  
"Cool." Charlie said.  
  
"Mhm." She replied. "Night Charles," she yawned.  
  
"Yeah, night." Charlie closed his eyes. 


	8. Chapter 8

Rating: PG-13 for coarse language and adult themes and slash references  
  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1  
  
Author's Notes: Well hopefully this chapter is up quicker than I got the last one up!! I promised my friend I would let you know about her stories. They're Harry Potter stories, but I think they're great, especially one but that's because I'm in it and I have the best boyfriend in the world! Anyway they're by Orli-anon, so if you want to check them out, I'm sure she'd be grateful.  
  
NOTES 2 MY REVIEWERS!  
  
Chapter 8:  
  
Charlie's eyes shot open. 9:22. Great. His Mom and Wayne had both left. He lay there for a minute, thinking, but he was stunned to hear strange noises from the bathroom. He leapt out of bed and skidded down the hall.  
  
"Katie?" He asked, knocking on the door, getting a pained 'yes' sound in reply.  
  
"Are you alright?" he asked, not at all surprised when she snapped back at him, something along the lines of 'does it sound like it?', but he couldn't be sure.  
  
"I'm coming in." Waiting for a second before opening the door, Charlie saw Katie hunched over against the wall, clutching her stomach. She looked up into his concerned face and immediately felt guilty. She shouldn't have brought him into any of this.  
  
"That's it, we're going to the hospital. No arguments." Charlie helped her up and supported her out to the couch.  
  
"Damn it," Charlie exclaimed, hitting his forehead in frustration. He didn't have a car at the moment. Kneeling down in front of her, Charlie placed a finger under Katie's chin and tilted her face upwards a little to face his.  
  
"I'm gonna hafta call Adam, we don't have to tell him much, and I know we can trust him not to tell anybody ok? We don't have any better choices," Charlie told her gently.  
  
Katie closed her eyes and nodded resignedly. Charlie was right, and the pain was slowly becoming unbearable.  
  
"Adam? It's Charlie. Look, I uh, need a favour."  
  
Ten minutes later, Adam was knocking on Charlie's door.  
  
"Are you gonna tell me what's going on?" He asked Charlie as he stepped inside the room.  
  
Ignoring Adam's question. Charlie walked over and helped Katie up. "Could you give us a hand?"  
  
Adam grabbed Katie's right arm and pulled it around his shoulders, and together he and Charlie walked her down to the car.  
  
"I still wanna know what's going on, Charlie," Adam stated as they drove to the hospital.  
  
"I know, and I promise we will tell you, but do you think that you could wait until Katie's in a reasonable kind of way? Because I'm still not entirely sure of what's going on myself."  
  
They pulled up outside the hospital and took her to the Emergency Room.  
  
"How can I help you?" The young nurse smiled at them.  
  
Charlie motioned to Katie. "She's in pain, she was beaten yesterday afternoon."  
  
The nurse's smile immediately dropped from her face. "Uh, ok, um... Dr Harrison!" She called, stepping out from behind the desk. Her name tag read, 'Olivia Brooks'.  
  
"Olivia, what can I do for you?" Dr Harrison appeared.  
  
Olivia blushed profusely. "The young lady over there, she was physically abused yesterday afternoon, she's in pain."  
  
Dr Harrison turned to Charlie. "You brought her in?"  
  
Charlie nodded. "Yeah."  
  
"Ok. I'm Josh Harrison," he stuck his hand out and Charlie shook it.  
  
"Charlie Conway."  
  
Josh smiled. "Let's go find out what's wrong with your friend." He knelt down in front of Katie.  
  
"I'm Dr Harrison, I'm gonna see if I can find out what's wrong with you. Can you tell me your name?"  
  
Katie looked up into Josh's face, her mouth open, ready to say 'Katie', but he beat her to it.  
  
"Katie Gold." His eyes met hers, a silent understanding passed between them, one which Charlie didn't fail to notice.  
  
Adam noticed the sudden change in Charlie's mood, and he thought, although he wasn't certain, it had something to do with Josh.  
  
"Where does it hurt?" Josh asked Katie gently.  
  
She grimaced and pointed to her abdomen., wincing as he pressed his fingers to her skin.  
  
"How much does it hurt? Scale 1-10."  
  
"9," she gasped as he came across a particularly tender spot.  
  
"What is it?" She asked.  
  
Josh looked at her seriously. "You have some internal bleeding. You're going to need to go into surgery, as soon as possible."  
  
Her eyes widened and she glanced at Charlie, whose eyes were also wide. Was that fear she could see in his eyes?  
  
She turned back to Josh. "I'm ready as soon as you are, JT, but I need to know that I'll be able to see my friends." She gestured to Charlie and Adam. "And I want - no, I'll need a private room. You know money's not an issue."  
  
Josh smiled. "Ok. The surgery's pretty standard, as you know, not too many risks. You'll have to stay overnight, and you'll have to take it easy."  
  
Katie nodded. "JT, promise me one more thing."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
She took a deep breath. "Promise me that nobody will call anyone in my family. I don't want any of them to know--"  
  
"-- because your dick of a father will find out. I promise, nobody will be called." He kissed her forehead. "I'll see you soon, I just have to get you admitted."  
  
"Thanks," Katie smiled as best as she could as he walked off. "Charles, talk to me. I'm really not in any condition to play games, so tell me. What's wrong?" She took Charlie's hand as he sat down next to her.  
  
"It's nothing," he sighed, playing with her fingers.  
  
"If it was nothing you'd tell me." Still getting no response, she raised her other hand to his face and forced him to look at her. "Don't try and pull this 'you're sick and I don't want to bother you' bullshit ok, because I'm not going to buy it." When he STILL wouldn't say anything, Katie sighed and turned to Adam. "Adam, if anyone can talk some sense into him it would be you, so could you let me know if he spills his guts?"  
  
Adam smiled. "I'll try my best to get it out of him for you."  
  
She laughed but ended up coughing in pain. Turning again to Charlie, her face fell at the sight of him fighting back tears.  
  
"Oh Charlie," she whispered, wrapping her arms around him.  
  
Embarrassed, he pulled away.  
  
"Hey, it's okay," she whispered to him.  
  
Shaking his head at her, he spoke angrily. "No, no it's not okay. Your father, somebody who is supposed to love you, and protect you from stuff like this, he's the one who did this to you! You're sitting here, trying to get me calm," he shook his head gently, his anger dissipating. "It should be the other way around." He shrugged, his eyes focussed on the floor. "I'm scared," he whispered.  
  
Katie's eyes filled with tears. "Of what?"  
  
He struggled. "Of losing you," he admitted. "Of everything. I -- it's just that -- I don't know anymore." He went to stand up but stilled when Katie's hand covered his own.  
  
"I'm scared too. To be honest with you, I'm scared shitless. No matter how many times I've been in this situation, it scares the shit out of me. And I could swear to God that it scares me more each time. You'd probably think I'd be better with you and Adam, and JT here but it scares me even more. It scares me because I don't want you to be embarrassed or ashamed, but I'm scared you will be. I'm scared because I'm rambling--"  
  
"We're not embarrassed or ashamed, we're worried just worried about you. And Charlie's afraid that he's gonna lose you," Adam spoke gently. "Hell, so am I. And everybody who knows you would be feeling exactly the same way if they knew."  
  
Katie's tears welled over and streamed down her cheeks. "Thank you," she managed.  
  
Josh walked over again, this time with papers in hand. "Hey, everything's gonna be fine," he reassured her. "You only have, like, 8 months until you turn18. Then you can go away to college, get the teaching degree you've always wanted, get the hell away from your father for good."  
  
She sniffled a bit and smiled. "Damn you. You always say the right thing."  
  
Josh raised his eyebrows. "Of course I always say the right thing. I'm a doctor," he claimed proudly. "Now," he said normally, "I need you to fill out a couple of details."  
  
He handed her the sheets and she filled in the information he hadn't known. She handed them back to him and he glanced at one of them. "This is the third time you've had internal bleeding?"  
  
She nodded, "Believe me, it doesn't get any easier with experience."  
  
"So he hasn't hurt you this badly for a while, that's a definite improvement." He flicked through, making sure there was nothing they'd missed. "That's it. You've been admitted. And, luckily for you, I get to assist in your surgery, so I'll hold your hand as much as I can, and if you're lucky I may even tell you about my latest relationship."  
  
"But I won't hear it, and I want to," she stated.  
  
"You'll be going into surgery pretty soon," he said as he walked off, ignoring her feeble attempt at a protest.  
  
Charlie just sat there, trying to process all this new information.  
  
"Please don't be angry at me," she said to him.  
  
"I told you, it's not possible for me to be angry at you. I just wish you would've told me--"  
  
"I didn't want you to feel sorry for me. The last thing I want is anyone's pity. I just want to be treated normally. And don't look at me like that, I know JT knows. But he treats me normally, especially when I'm like this." She stopped to take a breath. "Charlie, I need you. I want to wake up and see you there, in the chair next to my bed, with my book, on your lap. But while I'm in surgery, can you go to my room and get my book and my diary for me? My book should be somewhere on my desk, you know what it looks like," she smiled in remembrance. "My diary is on my bed, under the mattress, somewhere up near where my pillows are. Can you get them for me please?"  
  
"Of course," Charlie replied without hesitation. "I mean, if it's okay with Banksie here."  
  
"Yeah, no worries here," Adam nodded.  
  
"Ok, sorry to break up the party -- Ow!" Josh exclaimed, Katie had punched him in the shoulder. He glared at her for a second before continuing. "They're ready to get our favourite little Crouching Tiger wannabe ready for surgery."  
  
"I guess I'll see you soon," Katie said, hugging Adam quickly as a thank you for getting her there, before hugging Charlie more intimately, not unnoticed by Josh.  
  
"I'll be in that chair," Charlie replied before Josh supported Katie down the hall. 


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: Finally! Well, I'm sorry that it's taken so long guys and girls, but I can finally update! Let me see... I had to move house, interstate, so I didn't have a computer for about... 2 months, and then we moved in, and my old computer decided to die after a blackout, so then I had to wait ages to get my new one, no thanks to my brother, who actually did everything he could, which included making my dad take even longer to decide by giving him a lot more options than was necessary. So anyway we got this one the other day, and when I went to set up the internet, coz we're in the country, we only have the option of dial-up, but I set it up and it kept going engaged, and cutting off the real phone, anyway it turns out we had the phone line in the wrong plug in the computer. But have no fear, I'm BACK! And I can update more often, especially since I've finished writing the story, it's 13 chapters in total, and I'm already onto the 8th or 9th chapter of the sequel! So... ENJOY!  
  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1  
  
Rating: PG-13 for adult themes, coarse language, and slash references (from this chapter onwards)  
  
Thank you to all my very wonderful reviewers, these include C-chan96 and Orli-anon, who review every new chapter, thank you so much I love you both! xoxox  
  
Here it is, the one you'd probably given up waiting for.  
  
Chapter 9:  
  
Katie was walking around her house. "Luke? Chloe? Come on guys, where are you?" She heard giggling and followed the sound out to the backyard. Leaning against the veranda post, she smiled to herself as she watched them play happily. She heard herself sigh contently as a strong pair of arms wrapped around her waist as best they could, and she leant back against the broad chest.  
  
"Ready for another one?" Her husband asked.  
  
She laughed softly. "You bet. I can't wait until I get this one out."  
  
"Only 2 months to go," he teased.  
  
She snuggled further into his arms.  
  
"I love you Katie," he whispered, gently nuzzling her neck.  
  
"I love you too-"  
  
Katie stirred. Charlie immediately sat up.  
  
"Katie? Hey, it's ok," he reassured as she struggled to sit up for a minute before giving up and relaxing back down.  
  
"Charlie? Is that you?" She whispered hoarsely.  
  
He smiled, although she couldn't see it because she still had her eyes closed. "Yeah it's me." He watched for a minute as she struggled to process everything.  
  
"Where am I?" She asked, still extremely hoarse.  
  
"Here, drink some of this water," Charlie said, holding the straw up to her mouth. She gratefully swallowed a few slow mouthfuls.  
  
"You're in hospital," he explained as she slowly opened her eyes, trying to focus. "You had internal bleeding, and Adam and I brought you in."  
  
She stared at him for a minute before nodding once. Immediately her face contorted in pain and she closed her eyes.  
  
"Are you okay?" Charlie asked softly.  
  
"I don't think I should've moved my head that quickly," she explained slowly, slurring slightly.  
  
Charlie smiled as she yawned. "Go back to sleep," he said.  
  
"But-" she protested weakly.  
  
"No buts. I'll still be here, I promise. Unless I've gone to get some coffee or something. Now go back to sleep."  
  
Katie smiled a little at him before resting against the pillows and closing her eyes, falling back asleep almost immediately.  
  
~*~*~  
  
It was dark when she awoke, and she could hear hushed voices. She opened her eyes and saw JT and Charlie whispering to each other.  
  
"Hey," she said softly, causing both boys to jump.  
  
Both looked at her.  
  
"Hey Sleeping Beauty," JT smiled.  
  
"How are you feeling?" Charlie asked, automatically switching back into concerned mode.  
  
She smiled. "I feel pretty good actually. Better than I did before. What time is it?"  
  
Charlie glanced at his watch. "Shit," he said.  
  
"What, what is it?" Katie stared at him.  
  
"It's almost ten."  
  
"Go home," she told him. "You can come back tomorrow."  
  
"I'll make sure she doesn't bolt," JT joked. "Sweetie, don't laugh, it'll hurt."  
  
Katie rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks for telling me." She looked at Charlie. "For God's sake, just go. Make sure you come back. Bring some people. And tons of chocolate!" She called after him.  
  
"So what's the deal with you two," JT asked her after Charlie had walked down the corridor. "Is he like your steady or what?"  
  
Katie smiled. "No. I have no boyfriend, steady or otherwise. Charlie is my best friend." She grinned teasingly. "He's kinda like you, 'cept he's better looking."  
  
JT gasped and covered his heart with his hand in mock shock and hurt.  
  
"What about you?" Katie asked. "I think I remember something about a new sweetheart"  
  
JT smiled. "You know, I did mention something about me having a new sweetheart, didn't I."  
  
"Come on, spill," Katie begged.  
  
"Fine, ok, I'll tell you." JT said. "His name's Paul."  
  
"How hot is he?"  
  
"Can you think about anything else? He's very hot. He's about my height, blonde hair, and he has THE bluest eyes that you've ever seen."  
  
"Aww man, how come most of the hot ones are gay?" Katie groaned playfully. "Do you have a photo?"  
  
JT pulled out his wallet and handed her the photo of himself and Paul.  
  
"Mother may I! Shame he's gay." She pouted, handing the photo back to him. "How long have you been going out?"  
  
JT lowered his head and mumbled something ineligible.  
  
"What?"  
  
JT looked up at her. "6 months."  
  
"You little - I can't believe you didn't tell me! What does he do?"  
  
"He's a chef. He owns Hope."  
  
Katie's eyes bugged out a little further. "Holy shit! Are you serious? Hope is, like, THE coolest restaurant here, especially for young adults! I can't believe you're going out with the owner! Oh my..." Katei trailed off.  
  
JT was laughing. "You really need to slow down or you're gonna hurt yourself."  
  
Katie caught her breath again. "Can I meet him?" She asked, totally serious.  
  
"Sure," JT replied, "he'll be here in 20 minutes."  
  
"What?"  
  
"He'll be here in 20 minutes to pick me up," JT said.  
  
"He can't see me like this! I look like death not even bothered to be warmed over, or whatever!" She exclaimed. "Am I allowed to get up?"  
  
JT looked at her weirdly. "Why?"  
  
She stared at him was stupid. "Duh, so I can try and look a little better for when Paul comes?"  
  
JT shrugged. "Just be careful," he warned.  
  
~*~*~  
  
When Charlie arrived the next day, Katei was dozing. She opened her eyes as he sat down in the chair beside her bed.  
  
"Hey," she said contently. "How are you?"  
  
Charlie smiled. "I'm pretty good. Well, I'm spending my weekend in a hospital with you instead of skating with the Ducks, I guess you can imagine. You sound pretty good."  
  
Katie laughed. "I am. I'm going home this afternoon."  
  
Charlie grinned "Excellent."  
  
She nodded. "Damn straight. When were you supposed to go skating?"  
  
Charlie shook his head. "It was just an extra practise, it doesn't matter."  
  
Katie just glared at him.  
  
Charlie threw his hands up in frustration. "It was at 4 o'clock, why does it matter?"  
  
Katie smiled. "That's much better. Now you are going to go to this extra practise, and I am going with you. I can't do much but I can offer you support from the stands."  
  
"What stands?" JT asked, walking into the room, now back on duty. He and Charlie greeted each other before JT turned back to Katie, his eyebrows raised in expectance of an answer.  
  
"The stands at the hockey rink at school. JT stop looking at me like that, I know what I can and can't do, ok? I'll be sitting down most of the time and when I'm not, Charlie will be with me. And I was fine when I got up last night, remember?"  
  
JT smiled. "Hey, I was just curious, don't get snappy at me. And you know that I know that you were fine last night. Speaking of," he remembered, "Paul really liked you. He was wondering if you wanted to go out with us one night, start out from Hope and wing it from there."  
  
Charlie watched curiously.  
  
Katie nodded. "Yeah, sure! That would be heaps of fun." She turned her attention to Charlie. "You wanna come with us?"  
  
Charlie laughed and shook his head, "Nah, I'll be fine. I don't really want another night on the town with you for a couple of months at least."  
  
Katie pouted. "Aw please? Pretty please? If you don't come I'm gonna be like the third wheel."  
  
"How are you gonna be the third wheel?" He immediately challenged as JT looked on in silence. Even if the two of them couldn't see it, those two definitely had something special going on.  
  
"Because," Katie replied, "Paul and JT are gonna know everything and I'm gonna look like an idiot."  
  
"What are you going on about?" Charlie asked, but he turned to JT before she could answer. "Is she like, totally drugged?" He asked, a small smile playing on his lips.  
  
"Uh, no." JT replied a little too quickly. "I'm not surprised she hasn't told you. Paul is my boyfriend. I'm gay."  
  
"Oh, ok," Charlie said, shocked. Turning to Katie, "I didn't see that one coming."  
  
JT smiled but was cut off by Katie.  
  
"JTeeeeeeeeee, when can I go hooooooooome?" She whinged.  
  
"As soon as all the papers are ready and signed," JT said. "Not soon enough," he mumbled as he walked out the door.  
  
"I heard that!" Katie called indignantly after him.  
  
JT stuck his head back inside the door. "You were supposed to," he said, and disappeared.  
  
"At least he can get rid of you," Charlie muttered jokingly under his breath, only to get whacked with a pillow in retaliation, meaning the start of a reasonably gentle pillow fight. 


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: OMG it's another chapter! Already! Hey, I warned you I would be updating more regularly! Did that sound right? Ah well, here we go!  
  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1  
  
Rating: PG-13 for adult themes, coarse language, and slash references  
  
Chapter 10:  
  
It had been a month since Katie had gotten out of hospital, and two weeks since she and Charlie had gone out with JT and Paul. All four of them had enjoyed it so much they were gong out again that nigh. Well, three of them really enjoyed it. Katie could tell that Charlie wasn't totally comfortable around Paul or JT, not because of the gay thing but because he didn't know them.  
  
These were the thoughts running through Katie's mind when Charlie sat down next to her at lunch. He had managed to be silent for almost a minute before he just couldn't stand it anymore.  
  
"Aren't you talking to me?" He asked impatiently.  
  
She glanced at him. "I thought you would've lasted longer than a minute, I mean really," she joked.  
  
Charlie was going to reply but stopped. He looked closely at her face, in particular her let eye.  
  
"What happened?" He asked quietly, not wanting to draw attention to them.  
  
Katie shook her head. "Nothing."  
  
Charlie leant closer and spoke to her softly but firmly. "Katie, don't lie to me. OK? I deserve better than that." He took her hand in his own, comfortingly. "Did he do that to you?"  
  
Katie bit her lip and nodded. She looked down, not wanting Charlie to see the tears starting to well in her eyes.  
  
"I have to go," she muttered, pulling her hand away and running out of the cafeteria. She prayed he wouldn't come after her, his kind sympathy was too much for her to handle at the moment. She walked into her room and slammed the door shut. Flopping down onto her bed, she sighed to herself. Hen had things gotten so complicated? She couldn't understand why she was so upset, she should have been grateful. Her father had gone easy on her, just a bruise on her shoulder and a black eye, which by now she could cover both up pretty easily.  
  
Unconsciously she shook her hand, the one Charlie had been holding. Her heart twinged as she realised this, and she registered that she missed the feel of him touching her. But it was useless, she reminded herself, he didn't love her like that. He never would, she sighed resignedly. She'd be much better off if she stopped dwelling on what would never happen, and moved on. There were plenty of attractive guys out there, she could probably have any of THEM that she wanted.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Charlie slammed the locker room door behind him. Coach Orien had kept him behind for a few minutes after practise, asked him if there was a reason he was so distracted that afternoon. There was, but Charlie hadn't told him, he'd just promised to try harder. Coach, although disbelieving, had let him go.  
  
He changed out of his hockey gear quickly, and was out the door again, but this time running into Adam. Charlie had forgotten he'd promised to help look for a present for Adam's girlfriend Michelle's birthday.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Can I ask you a really strange question?" Charlie asked around his burger. They had been shopping for an hour and a half, and Adam hadn't even thought about Michelle's present yet, or so Charlie thought. They'd been in all the sports stores, not that Charlie was complaining or anything.  
  
"What is it?" Adam asked, trying but unable to prepare himself for whatever Charlie was going to ask him.  
  
"Would you say I'm more like Dawson or Pacey?"  
  
Adam choked on his drink. "What?"  
  
"Would you say I'm more like Dawson or Pacey?"  
  
"What t he hell kind of question is that?"  
  
Charlie sighed. "Well, Katie said we're like Dawson and Joey, you know like best friends but if it's more it screws up?"  
  
Adam nodded, he knew enough about the show to follow what Charlie was saying.  
  
"Well," Charlie continued she also said that Pacey and Joey are gonna fall for one another. So do you think I'm more of a Dawson or a Pacey?"  
  
"This means that Katie is a Joey?" Adam questioned, and when Charlie nodded he commented. "Funny, coz I always thought she was more like a Jen."  
  
"Yeah, real funny man," Charlie glared at him.  
  
"OK, you really wanna know what I think? I think you like Katie," Adam told him seriously.  
  
"What? Uh, yeah, sure man. I don't like her! What are you, crazy or something? We're just friends, God!" Charlie rambled.  
  
Adam just smiled and nodded. He glanced at his watch. "Come on we gotta go."  
  
~*~*~  
  
Charlie tentatively sat down next to Katie in Maths the next day.  
  
She glanced up at him "Hey."  
  
"He."  
  
"I'm sorry about yesterday, it's just-"  
  
"Don't worry about it, it's ok."  
  
Katie smiled. "Are you sure?"  
  
Charlie rolled his eyes. "Are you gonna ask me that Every Single Time I tell you that something's ok?"  
  
She nodded. "Mhm totally." She smiled at Portman as he walked in and took his place next to Charlie.  
  
"So how was your practise?" Katie asked as Mrs Bryant walked in and immediately shushed them.  
  
It was about halfway through the lesson when Charlie handed her a note under the table. She glanced curiously at him out of the corner of her eye before looking down and reading,  
  
"Would you say I'm more o a Dawson or a Pacey?"  
  
Katie's face scrunched up in confusion, but she decided not to worry about it until after class when she could ask him what he meant.  
  
"Ask me at lunch," she wrote, and handed it back discreetly.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"So," Katie started once they were settled at lunch, "what was it that you were asking me?"  
  
"Oh yeah," Charlie replied, taking a large bite out of his sandwich. "Would you say I'm more of a Dawson or a Pacey?"  
  
Katie winced. If there was one thing she couldn't stand it was seeing chewed-up food, especially when it was in someone's mouth.  
  
Charlie swallowed. "Sorry. Would you say I'm more of a Dawson or a Pacey?"  
  
Katie shrugged. "How do you mean?"  
  
"Like in everything."  
  
"I don't know. How would I know?"  
  
Charlie looked at her as though it was obvious. "You can't be serious. Come on, it's like your religion!"  
  
Katie chuckled, it was true. She hadn't ever missed an episode., and she frequently skipped his practises so she could watch it and tape it without the ads.  
  
"So?" She challenged.  
  
"So," he replied immediately, "you would know the characters better than the writers and the people that play them. You KNOW them. Which, once again, leads me to my question - would you say I'm more like a Pacey or a Dawson?" He looked at her expectantly.  
  
"Uh," she stalled. "Well, I'd say you're more of a Pacey. You definitely look more like him." She offered.  
  
"Ok, why would you say I'm more of a Pacey?" He asked, not angrily or accusingly but more plain curiosity.  
  
"Well like I said you look like him," she tried. "Well its true, but I guess it's because I'm not a huge fan of Dawson. He annoys the hell outta me - he's whiney and he whinges and he's lame. And you're more like Pacey coz you're not like that. You've had to make it yourself, you know? You're independent, and although you don' admit it you need love and nurturing and most of all acceptance of who you are." She smiled softly at him. "That answer your question?"  
  
He nodded slowly. Her words rang true in his mind. "Well, uh, who would you say you are?"  
  
She laughed. "Me? Well I definitely used to be Jen, or Jen how she was in New York, but now I'd like to think of myself as a Joey. Yu know, intent on getting good grades, rarely does anything bad, trying to keep her name clean if you now what I mean," Katie smiled sadly.  
  
Charlie nodded. "Yeah. Yeah I know what you mean." 


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: Only two chapters after this one! I don't know about you, but I can't wait until it's finished, because then I can start posting my sequel!  
  
HUGE thank you to C-chan96 and StormShadow21 , the only ones who I've gotten a review from so far, I'm still waiting on you Orli-anon, I know you're out there coz I reviewed your last chapter (I love you so much for my boyfriend in that story), so you may be out modelling but it doesn't give you the right to ignore me and my story!  
  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1  
  
Rating: PG-13 for adult themes, coarse language, and slash references  
  
Chapter 11:  
  
Katie sighed in frustration as her cell phone rang.  
  
"What do you want?" She answered it without looking at her caller ID. "And I swear, if it doesn't take less than 2 seconds I will hunt you down and tear you to pieces, literally."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Charlie? God, trust you to call . Hurry up, what is it?"  
  
"Uh, where are you?"  
  
"Home and if you wanna come over you're not allowed to talk for like an hour."  
  
"Ok I'll see you in ten then," Charlie said, getting a dial tone in reply. He shook his head, a small smile planted on his face as he got his stuff.  
  
He stood outside her dorm room for almost 10 minutes. He'd gotten a "Shut the hell up, wait a minute for fuck's sake!" when he'd tried knocking a second time.  
  
"Ok, come in," she called, now the ads were on. She smiled at him as he walked in, chucking his bag in the corner.  
  
"Hey, what's going on?" She asked, grabbing 2 drinks out of her small fridge.  
  
"Nothing much, practise got cancelled. Thought I'd come and see what you were doing. Which is what?" He turned the question around onto her.  
  
"Watching Dawson's Creek. That's why I made you wait so long, sorry about that."  
  
"Nah, it's cool," Charlie shrugged. "What's happened?"  
  
"Not much, just the intro. Oh quiet, it's almost back on." She grabbed the remote and unpaused her video at the perfect time to resume recording the show.  
  
Charlie watched the show, he really did, when he wasn't watching Katie. She was so beautiful, he thought, studying her as she laughed at something Pacey said.  
  
Katie sighed as it ended. "What did you think?" She asked Charlie as she stopped her tape and turned off the TV.  
  
Charlie shrugged. "It was good," he replied offhandedly.  
  
"But," she prompted.  
  
"It wasn't that interesting," he said as her mouth dropped. "I just have some other stuff on my mind," he explained.  
  
She stared at him with narrowed eyes for a minute before accepting this and offering him something to eat.  
  
"Nah," he declined. "I better go anyway," he said, moving over to grab his bag.  
  
"Ok," she accepted. "I'll see you tomorrow then," she smiled at him, and he was spellbound for a second.  
  
"Uh, yeah," he said. "Tomorrow."  
  
She moved over and gave him a hug, a friendly hug, he reminded himself as he breathed in her scent as much as he could.  
  
She sighed gently, unnoticed by Charlie. She loved this closeness between them, but she wanted it to be more.  
  
Slowly, regretfully, she pulled away from him. "Bye," she whispered, kissing him softly on the cheek.  
  
Charlie bit the inside of his other cheek and smiled awkwardly at her. "Bye," he replied, stepping outside and blowing her a kiss in return.  
  
She smiled and gently closed the door, resting her head against its cool surface as she reprimanded herself for not having the courage to kiss him when he was so close.  
  
Charlie turned the corner and stopped, resting his head against the cool wall as he reprimanded himself for not having the courage to kiss her when she was so close.  
  
Katie was dragged from her sorrow a minute later by the shrill ringing of her phone. She remembered o check the caller ID this time.  
  
"JT? She checked, answering.  
  
"Yeah it's me. Sorry to bother you so late," he mumbled.  
  
"JT what's wrong?" She asked concernedly.  
  
"Well I was kinda hoping you could keep me company. Have this horrible urge to drown my sorrows, and it helps if you're not alone, or so I've heard." He sounded distant.  
  
"Yeah, um, I don't see why not…?" She replied, not having any idea what was happening.  
  
"Cool, are you ready?"  
  
She glanced down at herself. "Yeah. How long will you be?"  
  
"As long as it takes you to open your door," he smirked, she could hear it in his vice.  
  
Still on the phone she opened her door and he stood there, as he'd said. His eyes were sad, she noticed immediately.  
  
"Just one thing before we go," she told him as she hung up and shoved her phone in her pocket, "what sorrows are we drowning?"  
  
JT looked at her before diverting his eyes down to his shoes. "Me and Paul broke up. He uh, he found someone else." He muttered, a combination of sadness and anger.  
  
Katie nodded in understanding. "Well I don't think we're gonna be able to drown or sorrows her, she smiled.  
  
JT grinned at her, although unconvincingly. "Let's go.'  
  
~*~*~  
  
Katie giggled uncontrollably as she struggled to open her door at 4:30am the next day.  
  
"Shh," JT said loudly, sending both of them into hysterics again.  
  
"Finally!" She exclaimed loudly as she got the door open.  
  
JT caught her as she tripped inside the door. She turned and didn't have time to focus on anything before leaning in and kissing him furiously. She'd had three times as much as to drink as JT, and he was positively plastered.  
  
She struggled with her coordination as she pulled his shirt over his head. They stripped each other to their underwear before Katie sobered up enough to step away.  
  
"I'm not gonna do this1' She exclaimed. "I'm drunk, and so are you, and you're… you're gay," she finished.  
  
JT immediately sobered as well. "Oh my God, Katie I'm so sorry! I don' know what I'm doing-"  
  
"No. It's not your fault," she said. "Look, why don't you crash here. You can sleep on one side of the bed, and I'll sleep on the other."  
  
JT nodded and they both climbed clumsily into her (thankfully large) be, lying back to back. Katie lay the for while, thinking about how she'd just stopped one of the greatest mistakes of her life.  
  
She awoke at 4pm to pounding in her head. She lay there for a second before realising there was also someone knocking on the door. Stumbling out of bed, she pulled her sheet around her clumsily and made her way over to answer. JT had left, she noticed.  
  
She opened the door. "What are you doing here?" Katie asked hoarsely.  
  
"I came to see why you weren't in class," Charlie told her, noticing the bags under her eyes. He looked closer and saw how bloodshot her eyes were.  
  
She opened the door wider to let him in, tripping as she stepped backwards.  
  
"Are you ok?" He asked.  
  
She shook her head and sprinted to the bathroom, her sheet coming loose in the process. He could hear her retching, so he got her a glass of water and took it in to her as she hadn't bothered to close the door.  
  
"Thanks," she mumbled, almost spilling the water as she swallowed a couple of mouthfuls. "Me and JT had a pretty wild night," she groaned, the pounding in her head was annoying the shit out of her.  
  
Charlie nodded, although he had no idea what she was talking about. She'd had a quiet night with him, watching Dawson's Creek.  
  
Katie stood up shakily and made her way back into her room, and started pulling stuff out of a drawer. She opened a pill packet and threw two into her mouth before Charlie could stop her.  
  
"Thank God for hangover reliefs like aspirin," she muttered.  
  
"I have to go, I have to get home so my mum can go out, but I'll see you later, ok? Are you sure you're ok?" Charlie questioned.  
  
"Mhm. I'll see you later," Katie mumbled into her pillow, already crawling back into bed, "I'm never, ever drinking again," she muttered before she fell into a restless sleep.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Katie slipped into the chair next to Charlie at lunch the next day, resting her cheek against the table so she could see him.  
  
"Whoa, you look like shit," he stated.  
  
"I feel like shit," she mumbled, squinting up at him trying to calm the queasy feeling in her stomach.  
  
He glanced at her before continuing to eat his lunch. "What happened the other night?" He asked between mouthfuls.  
  
Katie groaned. "After you left JT called and we went out and drowned our sorrows together," she explained as best she could.  
  
"What do you mean?" Charlie asked curiously.  
  
She sighed and closed her eyes tiredly. "Paul dumped JT, he was upset and he called me, and we went out and got absolutely smashed. I don't even remember coming home, but I think it was about 4:30 in the morning."  
  
Charlie looked concerned but she couldn't see it because she still had her eyes closed.  
  
"Oh my- only 2 hours until I can go and sleep," she yawned as the end of lunch signalled. "I'll call you later?" She asked.  
  
"Only if you're awake," Charlie smirked before they went their separate ways. 


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: God, has it gone long enough? Second last chapter everybody! One more to go! I'm getting jumpy just thinking about it! Will they or won't they get together? Hehe I'm evil, aren't I?  
  
Yay! Thank you, Orli-anon, for taking time out of your hectic schedule of doing things and seeing people to finally review my story. And thank you C-chan96, you are the reason I am now updating every day. I don't think I could stand it if you were unhappy, because if you were unhappy, you might not write any of your stories, and that would make me unhappy. It's really a vicious cycle.  
  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1  
  
Rating: PG-13 for adult themes, coarse language, and slash references  
  
Chapter 12:  
  
Katie hummed to herself as she made her way to the Headmaster's office. She knocked on the closed door.  
  
"Ah yes, Miss Gold, please come in," the headmaster smiled at her and motioned her inside. The smile immediately dropped from her face when se noticed her father standing at the side of the room.  
  
"I hope this doesn't take too long," he told him, "I mean, you wouldn't want me to miss too much class work would you?" The sarcasm was evident as she glared at him.  
  
Her father tuned to look at her, an extremely bord look on his face, before speaking. "Could you give us a minute please Dean?"  
  
"Of course," he complied, closing the door after himself.  
  
"I'll try not to take up too much of your time," Katie's father said staring out the window, turning to look at her as he said, "like you made I so obvious, I wouldn't want you to miss too much class work."  
  
Katie stared evenly at him, not saying anything. Looking away was a sign of weakness, and her father despised "weak people. According to him they didn't deserve to live.  
  
When he realised she wasn't going to say or do anything, Katie's father spoke. "you will have your possessions packed in two weeks. We are relocating in three weeks. Tony has been moved t New York. They are in need of his technical bities." He turned to leave the room but stopped. "You have to weeks to pack, if you manage to do that you will not have to attend case after that." H looked down at her as if she was dirty. "Is that understood?"  
  
Katie nodded. "Understood, sir," she said.  
  
Her father nodded. "Good. Someone will be sent in 2 weeks to collect you and your things." And with that he opened the door and strode out, leaving her standing there.  
  
She sighed and exited the office. Glancing at her watch, she decided to completely ditch her first lesson, considering there were only 15 minutes left.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Katie stepped into the change rooms after their practise. Adam had told her it was safe. Charlie was packing up his gear to take home that afternoon. Katie couldn't help but notice how the t-shirt he wore clung to his chest and broad shoulders. She stared at him for a few second, imprinting the image in her mind, before clearing her throat.  
  
"Hey."  
  
Charlie jumped. "Wha-". He noticed it was her and shook his head. "What are you doing in here?"  
  
"Adam let me in," she said.  
  
Charlie nodded.  
  
"I need to talk to you Charlie. I meant to talk to you at lunch but my brother called and lunch finished before he did and this was the only way I could be sure I'd get a hold of you--"  
  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow don!" Charlie laughed. "Do you want to grab a coffee or something?"  
  
Katie took a deep breath and nodded.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"So," Charlie started. "What are you talking to me about?"  
  
Katie shifted awkwardly in her seat. I… have some bad news."  
  
"Are you all right?" Charlie asked.  
  
"I'm not sick or anything," she said. "Here goes - I'm leaving. In two weeks." She stared at him, curious of his reaction.  
  
His eyes widened in shock, and he started fiddling with his empty cup. "That's uh… well, that's really soon."  
  
Katie nodded. "I know. I only found out this morning, and I was going to tell you at lunch, but stuff was happening… yeah," she finished, staring into the bottom of her empty cup.  
  
He nodded, although she couldn't see it. Thoughts were racing through his head. "Is there any way that you could stay?"  
  
She bit her lip as she shook her head. "I wish, but there 's not."  
  
Silence enveloped the two teenagers as the full reality of the situation hit.  
  
"I have to go," Katie stood up suddenly and placed some money on the table. "I'll see you later." She walked away quickly, ignoring Charlie's pleas for her to wait.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"You're early," Katie's brother stated as she marched into his house. "What's going on?" he asked when she made no comment.  
  
"Three weeks," she said simply. Taking a deep breath, she went straight to the point. "Tony, I have to stay, I desperately don't want to go. It's not like it is every time, because let's face it, I don't really have a hard time fitting in and making new friends--"  
  
"Does this have something to do with a certain young man that goes by the name of Charlie?"  
  
Katie was shocked for a second before her eyes started to tear up. "I love him," she whispered, "I'm in love with him."  
  
"Honey, you'd better dry your eyes because the in-laws are gonna be here really soon," Tony's wife Jen spoke from the doorway. "Tony and I will see what we can do for you. Just remember: no matter what we say, we love you and even though we'll miss you like hell, all we want is for you to be happy." She perved on the arm of the sofa and took Katie's hand. "To be honest, I don't thin I've ever seen you happier than you are now, and I will do everything I can to keep yo happy." She smiled at Katie and stiffened as they heard a car pull up in drive.  
  
"Kyle! Amy! Time for your baths! Your Auntie Katie's here, and Daddy and I will be back in the morning when you wake up!" she called, and quickly gave Katie a hug.  
  
"Thanks Jen," Katie whispered to her before gong down the hall to get the kids read for bed.  
  
She followed her usual routine that night - bathed and fed her nephew and niece, and they stayed up and watched a movie until their bedtime, at which she read Amy and Kyle a story in Amy's room and tucked Amy in before reading Kyle another story in his room.  
  
"Auntie Katie?" Kyle asked as she was leaving his room.  
  
"Yeah sweetie?" She asked, going back and sitting on the side of his bed.  
  
"Are you gonna baby-sit for me and Amy again?" He asked, getting to the point like only a 5 year old could.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I heard Mommy talking about how she'll miss you like hell."  
  
"Kyle!' She admonished.  
  
"Sorry," he said. "What did Mommy mean Auntie Katie?"  
  
"Well," Katie said carefully, "you know how I'm almost 18?"  
  
Kyle nodded.  
  
"Well, when you turn 18 you're allowed to live on your own, you don't have to live with you parents."  
  
Kyle pouted. "Aren't you gonna live near us anymore?" He asked sadly.  
  
"No baby I'm not," she replied, unsure as to what his reaction would be.  
  
Kyle nodded. "I'll miss you," he offered hopefully.  
  
Katie felt the familiar lump in her throat . "Oh, baby, I'll miss u too. She pulled him in for a hug. "So much. And Amy. I love you guys so much."  
  
"I love you too Auntie Katie," Kyle said, pulling back and giving her a kiss. He snuggled down under his covers. "Night," he yawned.  
  
"Night sweetie," she whispered, gently kissing his forehead and pulling the covers up over his sleeping form. Se smiled gently and touched his cheek before quietly exiting the room, turning the light off and pulling the dor so it was open a tiny crack. She quickly checked on Amy, who was also asleep, sprawled out on her back.  
  
She was lying on the couch, trying to concentrate on whatever movie she was looking at, when her pocket started to vibrate. Grateful for the interruption, however small, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked the caller ID.  
  
"Charlie?" She asked quietly.  
  
"Yeah, it's me,' he replied. "Where are you? You're not answering when I knock."  
  
"Oh I um, I'm not there."  
  
"No shit Sherlock" Charlie said dryly. "anyway where Are you? I have to talk to you." He sounded anxious.  
  
"I'm babysitting my niece and nephew. They're both asleep, do you wanna come over here?"  
  
"Where is it?"  
  
Katie smiled. "22 Ashwood Drive. How long will you be?"  
  
"I'll see you in about… 15 minutes," Charlie said, and that was the last thing she heard before the dial tone rang in her ear. 


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: The last chapter! I'm kinda sad to see it end, but I know you don't want to be kept in suspense, so I hope I didn't hold it back from you for too long. And if you totally loved the story, there IS a sequel on its way, it might be up tomorrow, but probably the day after. I'm so happy, school has FINISHED! NO MORE FOR 6 WHOLE WEEKS!  
  
I-hate-beeky, thank you so much for reviewing! And I'm glad you like the kids names.  
  
Orli-anon, how do you know I haven't changed any of it? Huh? But I can't wait to get my Christmas present, did you know Hayley sent me something?  
  
C-chan96, the name Jen was a reference to Dawson's Creek, but only because I couldn't think of any other name. Amy is actually the name of one of my friends, and somehow I convinced her to let me use her name for my niece, but now that Jen named her daughter Amy it fits in perfectly, no complaints from me!!   
  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1  
  
Rating: PG-13 for adult themes, coarse language, and slash references  
  
Chapter 13:  
  
"So," Katie started, "We've danced around the subject for 10 minutes now."  
  
"What subject?" Charlie asked, averting his eyes from her gaze.  
  
Katie opened her mouth as Amy tiredly thumped into the room and crawled into Katie's lap.  
  
"Amy? What's ter sweetheart??" Katie asked as she stroked her hair soothingly, also shooting an apologetic look to Charlie who just nodded.  
  
"It's ok," he mouthed.  
  
Amy yawned and snuggled into Katie's arms. "I had a bad dream," she mumbled.  
  
"What was it about?"  
  
Charlie smiled as he watched Katie soothe her niece. It was a beautiful sight. He could tell she would be an excellent mother.  
  
"A monster was chasing me," Amy sniffled. She turned her big blue sleepy eyes to Katie's. "I beat him but," she giggled.  
  
Katie smiled and stroked Amy's cheek. Amy turned her head and noticed Charlie. She smiled at him before turning back to Katie.  
  
"Auntie Katie who's that?"  
  
Katie bit her lip to keep from laughing. "Amy, this is Charlie. Charlie, meet my niece Amy."  
  
"Hi Charlie," Amy said. Turning back to Katie, she said, "Auntie Katie, he's cute."  
  
Charlie laughed as Katie's mouth dropped open in shock.  
  
"Is he your boyfriend?" Amy continued.  
  
"Amy, I don't have a boyfriend," Katie groaned, glaring at Charlie which only made him laugh harder instead of shutting him up.  
  
"Do you want him to be your boyfriend?" Amy persisted.  
  
"Ok Amy, bedtime," Katie said, standing up with Amy in her arms. "Say goodnight to Charlie."  
  
"Cute Charlie," Amy corrected.  
  
"Fine, say goodnight to cute Charlie," Katie said, blushing.  
  
"Thank you Amy, but I'm not as cute as you, or your auntie," Charlie smiled. "Oh, and you might want to tell your auntie to stop blushing," he smirked, looking at Katie.  
  
"Thanks a lot," Katie told him sarcastically. "Come on, you're going back to bed."  
  
Amy giggled. "You want him to be your boyfriend, dontcha Auntie Katie."  
  
Katie didn't answer, she just marched Amy off back to bed.  
  
"I'm sorry about that," Katie said as she came back into the room, "about Amy and the boyfriend thing, she's never done that before," she rambled.  
  
"Do you?" Charlie asked.  
  
"What?" She stopped rambling.  
  
"Your niece asked you if you wanted to be your boyfriend. Do you?" Charlie couldn't understand where all the courage for him to ask her this was coming from.  
  
Katie looked down at the floor, hiding the tears that threatened to spill. "It doesn't matter what I want," she managed hoarsely.  
  
"Yes it does. To me it does," Charlie told her. He looked at her as she nodded, her head still down. He moved and sat next to her on the couch, gently taking her hand in his own. She looked up at him, confusion written all over her face.  
  
"Do you remember," he started, "the day I asked you if I was more of a Dawson or a Pacey?"  
  
Katie nodded. She was revelling in the feeling of the (however minimal) physical contact.  
  
"Did you ever wonder why that was?"  
  
Katie nodded again, curiously. If she spoke she might wake up from this dream, this dream to which she desperately wanted a conclusion.  
  
"Well, do you remember the time when you said our relationship was like that of Dawson and Joey's? I'm not quite sure when, but one day I realised that if you were a Joey I didn't want to be a Dawson."  
  
"You wanted to be a Pacey," Katie finished.  
  
"Yeah," Charlie said. He raised his free hand and gently brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face, smiling gently as her eyes fluttered closed and she leant unconsciously into his touch. As she opened her eyes, what could be seen in them were mirrored in his own - pure, undying, true love.  
  
Slowly, almost torturously, they leant towards each other, neither wanting to rush. After what seemed like an eternity, their lips met in what could be described as a sweet kiss, short and tender. As it ended both smiled. Katie sighed happily.  
  
"Charlie," she mumbled. "Please say tonight. It's too late, and they won't mind, I promise.' she yawned "I just - I don't want to wake up and find out it was all just a dream."  
  
"Neither do I," Charlie whispered to her, "neither do I."  
  
"Good," she whispered back.  
  
"And that," Katie finished, "is where your Uncle Charlie and I started." She smiled at her niece before checking on her daughter, who was running to Amy.  
  
"Chloe, slow down," Katie told her daughter. "I can't pick you up if you hurt yourself." She placed a hand on her swollen stomach.  
  
"So did you… do it that night?" Amy asked, rubbing Chloe's back.  
  
Katie rolled her eyes. "No we didn't 'do it'. Especially since you and Kyle were in the house." She glanced over to where her nephew was now making out with a girl.  
  
"Did you stay with him or did you move with us?" Amy interrupted her thoughts.  
  
"What? Oh, I uh, I stayed at Eden Hall. You moved, and about 3 months later my father had a heart attack an passed away, and-"  
  
"I resigned from my job with the Navy and we moved back to be close to you now fat aunt," Tony finished.  
  
"I am not fat!" Katie exclaimed, lightly hitting her brother on the shoulder. Her eyes lit up as she saw her husband come out of the house, his eyes scanning the yard for her.  
  
"Hey!" She called, waving him over.  
  
"Hey," he replied as he sat next to her, placing a hand on her stomach.  
  
"Can you please tell my pain in the ass brother that I am not fat."  
  
Charlie smiled. "You are fat though - good fat. 7 months pregnant fat." He kissed her gently. "I think you look absolutely radiant."  
  
"Hey Uncle Charlie," Kyle strolled over to them, his girl in tow.  
  
"Hey man. What's been happening?"  
  
"Not much. Everyone - well, Uncle Charlie, Auntie Katie and Chloe, this is my girlfriend Rylie. Rylie this is… everyone."  
  
"Wow, such a touching introduction, I'm gonna break out into tears any second," Katie said sarcastically, lightly slapping Charlie when he muttered that she probably would. She extended her hand to the young woman, who was clearly uncomfortable. "I'm Katie, it's nice to meet you," she smiled.  
  
"Hi," Rylie smiled genuinely.  
  
"We're gonna go," Kyle said, taking Rylie's hand.  
  
Kati motioned for Amy to cover Chloe's ears. "Use a condom!" She called after her nephew, who extended his finger over his shoulder in response.  
  
"I love that kid," Katie smiled.  
  
"Kyle? He's a royal pain in the ass," Tony commented.  
  
"I know, he's definitely yours," Katie smirked. "Takes after you in that department, that's for sure."  
  
Tony poked his tongue out at her.  
  
"Amy!!"  
  
Everyone turned to the source of the sound - a skinny, bright red-headed girl bounding towards Amy.  
  
"Hey Leefa," Amy sad. "Leefa, this is Chloe" she pointed to Chloe sitting on her lap, "and my Uncle Charlie and Auntie Katie."  
  
"Well, actually my real name's Talitha but I tend to go off at people who call me that, so pretty much everyone calls me Leefa," Leefa smiled.  
  
Charlie looked weirdly at Katie. She half-smiled at him before extending her spare hand to Leefa.  
  
"It's very nice to meet you Leefa," she told her warmly.  
  
Leefa shook her hand exuberantly and stared at Charlie. "I know you," she stated. "You're the captain of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. My sister thins you're like, sooo hot, and you're my brother's favourite player, but I don't like my brother, he's a dickhead," she rattled off.  
  
"You're good," Katie told her, grabbing Charlie's hand and giving it quick, painful squeeze under the table, warning him no to say or do anything that would offend Amy or Leefa.  
  
"I know," Leefa smiled. "this is really forward of me, more forward than usual, but my bother and sister would both kill me if they didn't get your autograph. Do you mind?" She asked hopefully.  
  
Katie looked around the yard, at her nephew and his girlfriend bantering; at her niece teaching her daughter to play ring a ring o' rosies, and Leefa skipping over to join them; and at her brother and sister-in-la sharing a special moment of their own. She smiled as Charlie wrapped an arm around her shoulders and put his other hand on her stomach below hers. She snuggled into his touch. This was it, this was her family, her home. This was where she belonged, where she was happy. And she wouldn't have it any other way. 


End file.
